MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: 15 Communities High-Risk
MASSACHUSETTS — Nearly one-third of Massachusetts communities reported rising positive coronavirus test rates over the last two weeks, according to new town-by-town data released by the state Wednesday. But the statewide rate remained at the lowest level on record, 0.8 percent, and the number of communities designated high-risk fell.
Four towns reported rates above 5 percent, level with Sept. 16.
Statewide, there were 542 new COVID-19 cases and 17 deaths reported Wednesday. There have been 9,135 deaths and 126,408 confirmed cases statewide since the pandemic reached the Bay State in March.
The state reported 20,662 tests conducted Wednesday, bringing the number of completed tests to 3.6 million.
The latest town-by-town data showed the positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 116 — or 33.1 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate fell in 99 — or 28.2 percent — communities and held steady in the remaining 136.
Health officials say positive test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease restrictions. Four towns had positive test rates at or above 5 percent over the last two weeks: Hancock, Lawrence, Monroe and West Stockbridge.
Twenty-one communities had positive rates between 2 and 5 percent.
The metric Gov. Charlie Baker has encouraged school districts to use as a guide to school reopening decisions, cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks, was also updated. Fifteen towns were marked red, or high-risk, due to more than eight confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks: Chelsea, Everett, Framingham, Holliston, Lawrence, Lynn, Marlborough, Nantucket, New Bedford, Revere, Saugus, Tyngsborough, Winthrop, Worcester and Wrentham.
Last week, seventeen towns were in the red.
The data includes coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those towns and cities.
The state is continuing to release town-by-town testing data, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.
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How to use this map: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus case data. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.
The map does not include 312 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.
Pin colors are based on change in the positivity rate relative to last week's data; towns with increases are red, towns with decreases are green, and those reporting no change are yellow.
This article originally appeared on the Tewksbury Patch
